Delhi High Court - Orders
Uber India Systems Private Limited vs Union Of India & Anr on 12 September, 2023
Author: Satish Chandra Sharma
Bench: Chief Justice, Sanjeev Narula
$~25
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 9762/2023, CM APPL. 37464/2023
UBER INDIA SYSTEMS PRIVATE LIMITED ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Kamal Sawhney, Mr. Krishna
Rao and Ms. Aakansha Wadhwani,
Advocates.
versus
UNION OF INDIA & ANR. ..... Respondents
Through: Ms. Shiva Lakshmi, CGSC with
Mr. Vishal Singh and Mr. Govind
Sharma, Advocates for R-1/UOI.
Mr. Varun Jamwal, GP for UOI.
CORAM:
HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA
ORDER
% 12.09.2023
1. The Petitioner has filed this present petition being aggrieved by order dated 13th June, 2023 ("Impugned Order") passed by the Director General of Foreign Trade (Respondent No. 2) denying the benefit of Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) covered under Chapter 3 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 (FTP) to the Petitioner on the sole ground that the Petitioner was mandatorily required to obtain an Importer Exporter Code (IEC) Number at the time of export of services, and not at the time when benefits are being claimed under the FTP.
W.P.(C) 9762/2023 Page 1 of 3This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/09/2023 at 15:21:50
2. The issue whether the benefit would be extended only when an entity has an active registration at the time of export of services is no longer res integra. The Division Bench of Bombay High in Smarte Solutions Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India & Ors.1 and a Division Bench of this Court in the case of Hyatt India Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. vs. Union of India2 vide judgment dated 5th December, 2022 have squarely decided on this issue. These judgments have not been set aside or reviewed. The relevant portions of the judgment passed by this Court in Hyatt India Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. (supra) reads as under:
"22. A perusal of the above Notification shows that para 2.05 of the FTP 2015-20 regarding IEC has been amended and the Government has taken a decision that for services exports, the Importer Exported Code shall be necessary as per the provisions in Chapter 3 only when the service provider is taking benefits under the FTP.
...
26. As rightly pointed out by Ld. ASG Mr. Balbir Singh, the principal grievance of the exporters that the Government cannot insist upon IEC at the time of export stands satisfied in light of the above stated amendment.
27. This Court is also in agreement with the decision of the Bombay High Court in Smarte Solutions (supra). However, it was brought to the notice of this Court during these proceedings, the said amendment pointed out by Ld. ASG was not brought to light before the Bombay High Court.
28. In view of the amendment made in the FTP 2015-20, this Court does not deem it fit to venture further on individual facts of the present case.
29. It is now open to the Petitioners to raise their grievances before the authorities regarding other reliefs as prayed for in the instant Writ Petitions and the authorities are directed to consider the grievances of the Petitioners, if any, and adjudicate upon them afresh, in accordance with law.
30. With these observations the petitions are disposed of, along with pending application(s), if any."(emphasis supplied)
3. In spite of the aforesaid judgment involving the Petitioner (Uber India 1 Writ Petition No. 503/2021 2 W.P.(C) Nos. 9084/2020 and other connected matters, including W.P. (C) 7144/2022 whereby the Petitioner was a party.
W.P.(C) 9762/2023 Page 2 of 3This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/09/2023 at 15:21:50 Systems Private Limited was a party in a connected matter), the Respondents have yet again issued the Impugned Order denying the benefit of SEIS to the Petitioner on similar grounds as those which have been struck down by the High Courts. No new ground has been advanced by Union of India (Respondent No. 1) in their counter-affidavit beyond what has already been adjudicated upon in the earlier matter i.e. Hyatt India Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. (supra), and therefore the present petition deserves to be allowed.
4. In the light of the aforesaid, Impugned Order is hereby quashed and the Respondents are directed to take consequential steps to admit the SEIS benefit of INR 10,49,30,064 claimed by the Petitioner.
SATISH CHANDRA SHARMA, CJ SANJEEV NARULA, J SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 nk W.P.(C) 9762/2023 Page 3 of 3 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 16/09/2023 at 15:21:50